Benefits of Overseeding a Lawn

By TruGreenApril 25, 2013

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Overseeding a lawn can help improve its overall health and appearance. Simply explained, lawn overseeding is a process of spreading grass seed over the already existing turf. Generally, overseeding is best for larger areas where the turf is thin, but not bare. Smaller areas that are thin or infested with weeds can be spot seeded.

What is Overseeding

A lot of bad things can happen to your very nice lawn. Things like bare spots, or weak, thinning or patchy grass in your yard that results from compacted soil, poor drainage, weather conditions or weed infestations. When you notice any of these types of things occur, overseeding a lawn may be the best solution for restoring your lawn back to its most attractive condition.

So let’s start at the beginning by answering the question what is overseeding? Lawn experts use this technique with great success.

Overseeding is the process of planting new grass seed to fill in areas of thinning turf. It's a great way to improve the density of your lawn and enhance its color

In general this involves the entire lawn—not just a few bare or patchy spots, as those can be addressed more efficiently with spot seeding. In either case, the object is to get your lawn to a healthy condition, and this is aided when overseeding a lawn is combined with core aeration and fertilization.

Overseeding is not a new practice. People have been doing it for many years, as it can dramatically improve your lawn’s overall health and make it thicker and more likely to fend off weeds. Not all grass benefits from overseeding, though. In general, overseeding is most beneficial to cool season grasses like Fescue, Ryegrass and Kentucky Bluegrass.

Other benefits of lawn overseeding are enhanced appearance and color, increased disease and insect resistance and improved weed resistance. Overseeding a lawn allows the introduction of special blends of improved grass species that can effectively resist these unsightly lawn problems.

The process itself can be performed in several ways, but knowing the most common and effective technique is helpful

After a detailed inspection of your lawn's thinning spots, fresh seed is introduced into areas of your lawn. This can also be (and often is) combined with an aeration service to allow more water and vital nutrients to penetrate your lawn and encourage optimal root growth. As a machine called a lawn aerator punches holes into the soil, fresh seed is introduced and makes direct contact deeper into soil rather than getting captured above ground and not germinating. As new turf fills in, weeds are choked out, leaving you with a healthier, greener lawn.

Yes, overseeding a lawn is something that a homeowner can do, but it’s not all fun and games. It entails buying or renting an aerating machine or slit seeder, researching and purchasing the right blend of grass species to use, stocking up on starter fertilizer, and doing the procedure at the right time of the year and under optimal conditions.

In most cases and for best results, the wiser choice when it comes to overseeding is to contact a TruGreen® certified specialist. Visit TruGreen.com or call 866.688.6722 today.

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